


The Stone Table

by orphan_account



Category: Chronicles of Narnia - All Media Types
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-31
Updated: 2017-07-31
Packaged: 2018-12-09 05:26:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,013
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11662524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: What if Edmund had died on the Table instead of Aslan?





	The Stone Table

Edmund Pevensie picks at the grass around him and glances at his siblings, on edge. It’s been about an hour since the Witch demanded to speak with the great lion, and the tension in the air can be cut with a knife. He sees Peter stand out of the corner of his eye and stands as well with everyone else. The White Witch exits the red and gold tent, her eyes cold and cruel. She looks straight at Edmund and smirks before she goes to her seat.   
  
    Aslan, now in front of everyone, looks at Edmund with pity, his ears drooping. It’s only for a second before he speaks to the crowd. “She has...not renounced her claim on the son of Adam’s blood.”   
  
    Everything is still. Edmund doesn’t hear the shouting and pleading that his siblings are doing. It’s all muffled. He stares at the grass, eyes blurry with tears.   
  
    He’s going to die.   
  
    A hand on his arm makes him jump and return to reality. Everyone is still shouting and screaming at the Witch as she goes away. His siblings, on the other hand, are right before Aslan, begging and pleading. Peter is shouting at the lion to change his mind, Susan is trying her hardest to stay calm, and poor little Lucy is in tears, gripping onto Edmund tightly.   
  
    Edmund Pevensie is going to die.   


* * *

  
  
The night is quiet as Edmund goes to his doom. He walks through the forest, hands buried in pockets. His heart is racing, pounding in his ears. He wonders what happens if you die in Narnia. Is there a place you go after you die? What happens in the real world? All these thoughts and questions whir about his mind as he finally makes it to the Stone Table. The Witch was behind the table, all of her people before her. If Edmund was not terrified before, he definitely is now. He walks, head down, to the Table as the crowd cheers and taunts him for being a traitor. Which he is. He helped the Witch find Aslan and told them where his siblings were. He deserves this. His siblings don’t deserve to have a traitor in their family. It’s better this way...right? He breaks out of his thoughts as some of the creatures in the crowd seize him and tie him to the Table. He struggles, kicking and yelling, scratching and pleading all the way. As he’s bound to the Table, he stares at the Witch with fear.   
  
    “Oh, Edmund,” says the Witch, her face twisted into a sneer as she looks down at the young king, “you’ve been of such use to me. I so wish that I do not have to do this. But the Deep Magic must be appeased.”   
  
    What Edmund doesn’t know is that his brother and sisters are watching a great distance away. They grip each other tightly, tears streaming down their faces as they watch the Witch raise the knife. Lucy buries her face in Peter’s chest. Susan and Peter both turn away as well.   
  
    They do not want to see any of this.   
  


* * *

  
  
As soon as they near their brother, Lucy pulls out her cordial and unscrews it, hope in her eyes. But it fades as Peter places a hand on the lid.   
  
    “It’s no use, Lu...,” he says, his voice thick with tears. “He...he’s gone.”   
  
    Susan places Edmund’s head in her lap, tears falling on his cold face as she sobs. Lucy hugs her tightly.   
  
    Peter just watches the scene and stares at Ed’s face. He remembers how he promised their mum to keep them safe, how he should have kept a closer eye on him. He should’ve made them go back home while he still could. But he didn’t. And now their brother is gone. Rage bubbles up in him and all he can think about the upcoming battle with the Witch.   
  
    He will avenge Edmund. Even if it means he dies as well.   
  


* * *

  
  
Peter stares at the wardrobe. It’s been a month since they’ve arrived back from Narnia, and every day he blames himself. Blames himself for not killing the Witch when he had the chance, blames himself for not keeping an eye on Edmund, blames himself for treating him like a child. The anger is too much to bear, and he slams the wardrobe door shut, screaming at it to bring his brother back. He kicks the door and it breaks easily, splinters flying everywhere. The wood cracks under his kicks and punches, the dust mixing with the tears falling from his chin. Susan and Lucy burst into the room, and grab their brother, forcing him away from the now destroyed wardrobe.   
  
    “Peter, that isn’t going to bring Edmund back! It’s only going to make it worse,” Susan says, cupping his face in her hands and wiping away his tears with the sleeve of her robe.   
  
    “I just want him back, Sue! I failed to look after him like I promised mum! What is she going to say when we go back without him?!”   
  
    “Mum will understand, I’m sure, but we just need to tell her at the right time. I know you blame yourself and you need to grieve, but so do we! He was our brother also!”   
  
    “If only you had listened to me the day after Edmund returned! I was going to send you back, but did you listen? No! You wanted to stay and help!”   
  
    “Only because we thought we could defeat the Witch! Which clearly we couldn’t!”   
  
    “Will you two shut it?” Lucy wails. “Just stop fighting, for once! We all miss Edmund, but is fighting like children going to help us grieve?” She sobs into the folds of her robe, her tiny body shaking.    
  
    Peter and Susan both look at each other with sorrow and regret at the past few minutes. They are being childish, not like the king and queen they once were. They both hug their sobbing sister tightly, their own tears falling onto the wood floor.   
  
    They just want their brother back.


End file.
